


Slip of the Hand

by chipmunk94



Category: Emergency!
Genre: But Mostly Hurt, Canon Compliant, Canon Typical Danger, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Why is it Johnny who always gets into trouble?, episode s02e12, no comfort as of yet, paramedics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-21 23:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11955042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chipmunk94/pseuds/chipmunk94
Summary: When Johnny and Roy answer a call about two boys lost in a drainage system, they enter the tunnels that are rapidly filling with water. One is nearly left behind.Tag to 2x12 "Helpful".





	Slip of the Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I'm fulfilling my fate as a fanfic writer for classic tv shows. I'm 23, why am I watching a show about paramedics from the 70s and writing fanfic for it? I have no clue, but here you go. 
> 
> I actually wrote this a few years ago and stumbled across it recently, deciding to fix it up a bit. I just wanted to explore Johnny's thoughts during his near drowning. If I get anymore inspiration for it, I might add a chapter exploring Roy's concern for his partner.

            “Johnny?” Roy called down the open manhole, blinking water from his eyes. His partner had been right behind him, passing up one of the boys. But there was nothing moving in the dark now.

~~~

            Johnny had been doing all right. Sure, the air was a little bad, and his head was starting to throb. But they hadn’t been able to put their masks back on for fear of missing the boys’ hollers. The water was rushing and trying to walk against it was like trying to walk through sludge, except worse because sludge wouldn’t be yanking at your feet, trying to pull them out from under you. Maybe he would’ve been okay, though, if the damn ground had stayed where it was supposed to when he’d walked through that stream of water. But with both hands holding the little boy and the tank on his back throwing off his balance, the stream that Roy had walked through so easily felt like it had all the pressure of a fire hose. He’d stepped wrong, on a rock or a piece of pipe or trash or something and that momentary lack of balance was all it took to send him into the water. Johnny gasped, spitting out the foul water and grabbing for the kid before he could be swept away by the swift currents. With one hand grabbing for the little boy, and the other trying to block the stream of water, Johnny couldn’t find his feet. All he could do was gasp and splash, hoping Roy would turn his fat head and look.

            The boy splashed, finally waking up, and grabbed blindly for anything that would help keep his head above water. Johnny just grabbed under one arm, hoisting him up as far as he could as he heard Roy shout something that was drowned out by the roar of the water and the bouncing echoes. He blinked away the water, pulling the boy close and trying to get his feet as he struggled closer to Roy who had finally turned back and was grabbing for the boy. Johnny gratefully gave him up, finally able to focus on finding his feet now that he didn’t have someone else to worry about. Roy moved back towards the ladder, barely visible except for the yellow tank and the reflector strips on his clothes. Johnny felt a moment of insane jealousy as his partner waded through the water with seemingly little effort; he remembered an old girlfriend’s comments about him being a beanpole. It must be Roy’s size that was helping him keep his footing now.

            Johnny grunted, slipping again, but this time his arms were free so he could catch himself on the wall as he moved towards Roy and the boys. He brushed his sopping hair out of his face and grabbed the other boy as Roy began climbing, the second one clinging to his neck like a monkey. Roy climbed, and Johnny panted against the boy’s filthy blond hair as the water sucked at his feet. As soon as Roy was through the hatch, he put the boy on the ladder, gripping him tightly. He hadn’t expected either boy to be as coherent as this one was, but the kid just started climbing right away, putting one hand in front of the other, carefully and not too fast. Johnny guessed that if it were him, he’d want to be out of here too. He kept his hands on the boy for as long as possible, stretching until his hands slipped from the boy’s pants, giving one last push at his bottom. Roy took over then, grabbing the kid and hoisting him up to where the other members of Station 51 waited. Roy lifted himself up, feet dangling for a moment before they disappeared over the rim of the manhole.

            Water raced through the tunnels. Even in the past couple minutes since they found the kids, it had risen past Johnny’s waist. He scrambled onto the small ledge, and grabbed for the ladder. He looked up; rain fell through the manhole, but he could see white light shining from a streetlamp or a store light. He grabbed another rung, but they were soaked and slippery and covered with something slimy. The ground wasn’t much better. His shoes slipped along with his hands and he fell sideways into the water.

            He flailed desperately for a grip, feet scrambling underneath him to get a footing. He managed to grab onto the roots of some sort of plant growing on the ledge and threw himself forward, stretching for the ladder. The water tugged at him, pulling him away and he dug his cold fingers in tighter, spitting out the water that splashed into his face. He gasped, trying to work out the word “Help!” but it never came out, his throat closing around itself. His tank and his gear, which was already heavy enough without adding all this water to it, were pulling him down, eager to be rushed away through the tunnels.

            He was pulled underwater again, and he swallowed a mouthful of the flood water before he managed to bob up again, gasping and hacking all at once. Ignoring his burning chest, he tightened his grip on the ledge and lunged forward again, fingers scrabbling for the rusted metal of the ladder. And luck was with him; as he lunged forward, his foot hit something, a small groove in the concrete wall, just enough to give him a boost out of the water, just enough that his almost frozen fingers could wrap around the metal and pull him farther out. Wheezing and coughing for breath, Johnny pulled himself onto the ledge where he was finally able to stand again, the water only up to his ankles now. Adrenaline was coursing through him, strengthening his muscles and giving him just enough energy to move hand over hand, feet over feet as he climbed up that ladder, to the circle of light and rain, coughing the entire way.

~~~

            “Johnny!” Roy breathed a sigh of relief as Johnny struggled up the ladder. He reached down his hand and Johnny’s cold, soaking wet hand gripped it. Roy tightened his grip and pulled, ensuring there was no chance of the younger man slipping as he clambered out of the hole, black hair plastered to pale skin that was normally so tan. Johnny was gasping for breath and Roy’s chest tightened.

            Johnny fell to the ground next to the manhole, panting, letting his head fall back. Roy let him, standing up to catch his own breath. The two of them, almost unwillingly, leaned forward to look into the flooded tunnels. White water rushed over the place Johnny had been moments before.


End file.
